Punggol Bus Interchange
Punggol Temporary Bus Interchange is a temporary bus interchange in Punggol New Town, located adjacent to the Punggol MRT/LRT Station. It was built to allow for easy dismantling when the site is redeveloped as part of a major commercial development when Punggol New Town is more developed. The SGD $1.9-million temporary Punggol Bus Interchange, which took 10 months to construct, was opened on 30 November 2003 by Member of Parliament for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC Teo Chee Hean. History With the opening of the interchange, Service 83, plying between Sengkang and Punggol, was amended to terminate here, instead of the pair of bus-stops below Punggol. Also, Punggol Road End Bus Terminal closed. The terminal's only bus route, Service 3 was extended from its original looping point at Pasir Ris Street 71 to provide direct links between Punggol and the new towns of Pasir Ris and Tampines, while Service 62 and Service 136 were extended from the former Hougang South Bus Interchange and Upper Serangoon Road to this interchange respectively. Prior to the Punggol Bus Interchange, there is only one bus terminal which was in the Punggol Road End, which existed since the 1980s and is home to services 82 and 83. When the North East Line opened, the terminus was shut and converted to a bus stop. Subsequently, more services like 34, 43 and 85 were introduced to bring about greater connectivity to Punggol. When Serangoon Bus Interchange moved to its new facility, Service 82 was amended to start from Punggol Int and loop at Serangoon Central, skipping Punggol Road End. A new service 84 was introduced to cover the lost sector. In April 2015, LTA called for a tender to expand the existing Punggol Temporary Bus Interchange. The expansion will see an expanded interchange concourse, along with new boarding berths and toilets. A further 13 parking spaces will be added to the current 38 parking lots. This will be achieved through an expansion in space of 0.8ha from the current 1.2ha. Construction of the expansion will start in Q3 2015 after LTA has awarded the tender. The expanded concourse will allow for about 4 to 5 new bus services under BSEP. On 21 October 2012, under the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP), Service 119 was extended to terminate at Punggol Bus Interchange instead of terminating at Sengkang Bus Interchange, calling at an additional four pairs of bus stops. On 16 December 2012, under the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP), Service 50 was introduced. The service plies between Punggol and Bishan Bus Interchange. Tower Transit took the responsibility of all services except service 50 and 117 which operates as a neutral area. The staff room is there. Punggol Interchange Extension In April 2015, LTA called for a tender to expand the existing Punggol Temporary Bus Interchange. The expansion will see an expanded interchange concourse, along with new boarding berths and toilets. A further 13 parking spaces will be added to the current 38 parking lots. This will be achieved through an expansion in space of 0.8ha from the current 1.2ha. Construction of the expansion will start in Q3 2015 after LTA has awarded the tender. The expanded concourse will allow for about 4 to 5 new bus services under BSEP. Phase 1 of the expansion opened on Wednesday, 25 January 2017, providing a row of 13 additional parking lots. Construction works are expected to complete in the 3rd quarter of 2017. Part of the expansion includes an extension of the interchange concourse to accommodate 2 more boarding berths. The existing berth 1 would be converted into an alighting berth once the expansion opens. The concourse expansion opened from 01 Oct 2017, with changes in the berth allocation. Under the Bus Interchange Enhancement contract PT290, bollards at the original concourse were changed in phases starting in November 2017. Berths were closed one at a time to minimize disruption to regular bus services. Berths Category:Bus stations in Singapore